On Tuesday, the Supreme Court upheld the Central government’s 2019 order abolishing the Odisha Administrative Tribunal (OAT).
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud dismissed the plea filed by the Odisha Administrative Tribunal Bar Association contesting the Orissa High Court’s ruling upholding the liquidation of OAT, saying: “We hold that abolition of Orissa Administrative Tribunal was legal. State administrative tribunals may be abolished by the Union of India without violating Article 323A. The Government made the right option to revoke the tribunal’s establishment by using Section 21 of the General Clauses Act. The Constitution’s Article 14 is not violated by the tribunal’s decision to be abolished.
It is important to note that the government of Odisha chose to disband the tribunal in 2015 after concluding that the institution’s primary goal of providing speedy justice to employees could not be met. The government then petitioned the Center for approval to carry out its decision. As a result, on August 2, 2019, the Central government’s Department of Personnel and Training published a notification eliminating OAT.
The Orissa High Court had highlighted in its ruling that there was enough evidence to back up the state government’s contention that the OAT had failed to fulfill its promise to provide petitioners with prompt justice.
